Okay... it took me a long time to write this and an even longer time working on the site. Stupid Topcities has removed it and thus I had to resort to geocities. Here's the link... well, read it out loud: geocities dot com slash tygerian underscore kitty try and get it right. Between Tygerian and Kitty there is supposed to be an underscore... try and get this right, please.

On the site you will get to read all of Uno's diary entries, all of Ricky's journals, Heero and Doctor J's secrete messages, and view the maps and the old reviews of DC1 from when my penname was Angel0fRebirth. Please view the site; also, take a look at the maps. They took a long time to make... and if you wonder exactly how long... try 3 years.

Wings of Destruction
Chapter 17
Strolling Through History

"Okay Justin," Mandy cleared her throat and slid out of the jeep after Justin had. She took a few steps towards the front of the extremely huge mansion and paused to stare back at him.

"What now?"

Justin was staring up at it in silence, his mouth gaping open and his eyes wide as hell. He shrugged his shoulders as he began heading towards the front door, Mandy following behind, but he stopped dead as soon as he saw the boards that bolted up the outside of the front door.

"What happened? Why is it bolted up?" Mandy asked as she peered over Justin's shoulder.

"It appears Uno doesn't want anybody inside," Justin murmured. "Much as she didn't want us digging into that box of hers."

"But…" Mandy's voice trailed off as she stared at it an extra moment longer. Justin turned and retreated to the jeep and stuffed his gun back in the back of his jeans. Mandy turned around and chased after him.

"What now?"

"I'm going to see if there's a back way inside," Justin explained as he hopped up into the jeep and started the engine. Mandy sat down and shut the door then watched as a clear shot of the mansion came into view. She blew out a whistle. They drove the jeep around a long stretch of tall hedges and then back to another long wall of elegant brick designs with elaborate windows.

"Hey slow down," Mandy called back as she hung out the window. Justin gazed over at her as he watched her peer into some of the windows. "Besides a lot of grind and my reflection… I'd say the insides are extremely beautiful!"

"What can you see?" He asked her solemnly.

"Not much but I can see a wide arrangement of fancy furniture." Mandy sat back in the seat as Justin drove around towards the back.

"I'm only wondering why there's a driveway that carries onto the back," Justin fumed in deep thought.

Mandy shrugged. "Maybe a big garage?"

"We'll see."

When the jeep pulled around the back they were greeted with another decorated entrance only this time the door inside wasn't bolted. Mandy's jaw dropped as she stared out the open window to the building, at the over grown vines and roses that crawled up along the sides of the walls and the elegant decorations that fancied up the walls and what appeared to be a huge garage door.

Mandy turned back to him with a grin. "See, told ya."

Justin slid out of the car and slowly came around to stare at the building in awe. Mandy slowly slid out of the car as well and creased her brows.

"This place is huge," she muttered. "I hope we don't get lost."

"I'm hoping that myself."

"Justin?" She stared at him. Justin ignored her and continued heading towards the door, his gaze still fixated upon the fancy house.

"I don't have a map."

"Great," she scoffed then chased up behind him. "But we got flashlights… think the power's out?"

"It's out in the entire city. It's probably black inside," Justin mused and reached out for the knob. He paused and stared down at the metal latch with question. "It's tarnished."

"So?" Mandy questioned and looked down at the handle then back at him.

Justin took a deep breath and tried the knob. Amazingly he found the door entirely unlocked! Blinked in astonishment he pushed open the squeaking door and stood put until the door fell against the wall. Sunlight filtered into the doorway and filled the hallway. Gray walls painted the hall and Justin dazed back at Mandy with a quick glance before taking a deep breath and stepping inside.

Mandy swallowed and cringed as she followed behind, the flashlight clutched dearly in her hand. Upon entering Justin turned to her.

"Shut the door."

"What?" She froze.

"Shut the door. We don't need critters coming inside."

Cursing beneath her breath Mandy shut the door. As the door closed the dark tunnel they once peered inside closed over them. Soon, Justin had his flashlight on and Mandy followed afterwards. She shown the light around the walls then stepped up to him.

"What now?"

Justin ignored her and began heading down the small hallway. A set of doors on both side came up and reaching for one he tried it.

"It's so locked it won't even jiggle," Mandy muttered.

Justin pulled away, his brows creased together. "It's electronically bolted."

"What?"

Justin turned and shown the light at the other door then down the hall where it opened up into a room with many more doors. "I just hope those doors aren't bolted in place either."

Mandy followed Justin down the hall until it opened into another room with half the wall opened up at the corner to yet another room. Several couches were lined along the walls.

"Well… need to take a break?" Mandy joked as she turned and watched Justin as he tried several of the other doors. None of them opened and he fumed as he stepped back and shined light upon the others in the weird-shaped room.

"Arcade? Insence Room?" Mandy mused as she read some of the names of the doors. "These people were crazy."

"I'm hoping we're not stuck here," Justin muttered as he headed through the room to the other doors. He paused when the wall besides him opened up into a huge room with a catwalk above and a DJ Booth at the far end.

Mandy followed and stared at the room. "A dance hall?" She gaped. "Who were these people! They've got a whole bunch of cool stuff!"

"Uno sang with her friends," Justin reminded himself. Mandy stared back at him in wonder. "She's had a few CD's made with her friends.

"Probably from there," Mandy pointed out. Justin followed her finger to a door at the far end of the entire room, through two doorways from the dance hall, to a door that read 'Recording Studio'. He shrugged and turned to another door.

"Photoshoot?" He passed it up and paused at a door that was blank then took a glimpse at the others around it. The rest of the doors were marked with either Instrument Room, Kitchen, or even Restrooms. He turned back to Mandy and with a heavy intake of air, reached out for the latch and grasped it. The door opened up into another hallway and swallowing back he stepped inside.

"I like this place already," Muttered Mandy as she followed. "They've got a club here."

"Yeah," Justin mused. "Real great." He paused and waited for Mandy to shut the door to the hall and as soon as he heard the click of it against the wall he shone the light around.

"Great," he mused. "More doors."

"And they're labeled." Mandy added in. She shrugged. "Well, at least we know not to try the ones that are labeled, seeing as they're probably locked."

"Yeah," Justin agreed and began walking. He fumed at a sign on a door that read 'Hunted Animals Room' then grinned when he read a door that was labeled 'Gun Range'.

"I already feel I know more about her," Justin mumbled as he headed down the hall and stepped into the split of the hallway. He turned and shone the light down the new hall where he found it opened into a nice living room designed to look a bit country. "She's got a gun range in here."

"Pleasant," Mandy muttered in response. She blinked blankly at a door that read 'Saloon and Bar' then rolled her eyes. "I think we're in some Western Wing."

"You think?" Justin retorted and dragged the light to a door behind him that was blank without a title. He tried the knob and found it was bolted stiff.

"Yeah… I think we came into some club and now we're in some Western Wing." She dragged the light to a staircase. "Go upstairs?"

"No," Justin shot back as he narrowed his eyes and continued down a narrow hallway. One door read 'Office' and there was another at the far end of it. Mandy followed behind, her breathing heavy as if she had felt they weren't alone.

"It's freaky in here," she muttered. "I feel so scared, Justin. Like I'm in some horror film."

"In a way," he shrugged as he reached out for the knob, "I guess we are." He had to admit, walking into Uno's life was a horror because he wasn't sure he wanted to know if she was always 'kick-ass Uno' or was bred to become it and if she was bred… why?

He opened the door, thankful it wasn't locked, and stepped inside. Mandy closed the door and paused when she found he was gazing to their right at a small opening in the hallway—rather long and semi large, she should admit—littered with fancy couches and tables like a living room.

"What is this?" She heard herself whispering.

"I'd say a sitting area." Justin answered then turned back to the hallway and continued down it slowly. Mandy chased after him and stayed close to him.

"Why does the doors all say 'Music Room'?" Mandy asked. Justin gave her a dirty look and shook his head. "I mean… is it probably a big music room?"

"Probably."

"There was a door back there that didn't have a name on it," Mandy pointed behind herself. "Shouldn't we check?"

"There's a few here too," Justin retorted after stopping besides an elegant stone and marble staircase and shining the light around some doors that read 'Library', 'Office', 'Restrooms', and of course, 'Music Room'; only two were blank.

"Which ones?"

"I say this one," Justin pointed to the one ahead of themselves and began walking again. Mandy tagged closely along, feeling goose bumps ride her skin as fear of some freaky ghost jumping out to scare her.

"Do you think there's ghosts in this thing? Like a real haunted mansion?"

"If I find one I'll tell you," Justin retorted through a grin. He reached out for the latch of the blank door before him and ignored Mandy's rude comment thrown back at him. When he opened it, it spilled back into another dark hallway. He sighed.

"That's all it seems I'm finding," he remarked as he stepped through. "Just hallways. Like Uno's mind; nothing but hallways and mazes—no answers and only questions."

"She's confusing like that," Mandy shrugged and shut the door.

"Now what?" Justin muttered as he continued walking forward. Mandy shined the light on the two doors besides her that read 'Kitchen' and 'Dining Room' then chased after him.

"I think we're inside!" She smiled.

"You would," Justin paused as the hallway split off to a right and left. He shined the light at both ends and sighed. "I guess left?"

"Why left? Mandy wondered.

"Because," he shone the light to the right. "Right is a wall and left," he returned to the left side of the hallway, "is another hall."

"Left then?"

"Yeah," he grunted. Mandy followed behind as she dazed into the most elaborate looking yet appearing quite comfortable living room near by and smiled.

"These people had good taste."

Justin snorted at that. "Not if they wanted Uno to be a machine."

She shrugged and nearly bumped into him when she didn't know he had stopped walking. "Geeze! Warn me before you stop—would ya'!" Mandy shouted at him.

"Strange," Justin muttered, shining the light on a metallic door ahead of himself in utter confusion.

"What?"

"Every door in this place is either wood or glass and this is metal and I mean… industrial metal."

"So?"

"Why… I'm wondering why it would be so different," he murmured as the gears in his head turned frantically, in search of an answer.

"Maybe it's a Metal Wing?" Mandy thought.

Justin's brows creased together as he stepped closer to the door and tried the latch. It was open and he opened the door. Instantly, as he stepped inside, he found Mandy may actually be correct. The floor was metal and clanked as the both of them walked on it, the walls were covered in computers and as the door shut after Mandy entered he found it clanked as well.

"Where are we?" Mandy asked in a daze as she stared at the room the best she could with her flashlight.

Justin wasn't too stupid to figure it out for himself, however; he began walking around to the center of the room where a huge column of computer equipment was towering over everything and grinned huge.

"We're in some sort of security room," he mumbled. He circled around the large column and shone the light on every angle he could. "This is tremendous."

"Great," Mandy muttered with a roll of her eyes. "And it means?"

Not hearing a word she was saying Justin stepped closer to the keyboard that was hanging in the middle of the column and tried pressing a key. Nothing happened and he creased his brows together as he turned and glanced at the room. He paused when a faint green light lit up a small corner and grinned.

"Gotcha'," he muttered as he raced over there.

Mandy watched as he pressed the green button. No sooner than that the entire room lit up and killed their need for flashlights. The sound of power generating up drowned out their ears for a few seconds until Justin returned to the only monitor that was lit up with a blinking DOS command and began typing into it.

"What are you doing?" Asked Mandy as she stepped up behind him. "Justin?"

"I'm trying to figure out what's going on here," Justin replied then ignored her the rest of the time. Finally, after several minutes of trying and somehow being kicked offline—this computer had a mind of its own—a message popped up that read 'Simon Says Abracadabra'.

"Abracadabra?" Mused Justin. Not even a split second after he the word left his mouth in the form of a question the rest of the screens booted up and Mandy spun around with a shriek as the large screen on the wall opposite of them flickered on and shown a full three-dimensional view of the mansion. She whistled again.

"This place is huge!" "Expressed Mandy.

"Thank you," came another womanly voice. Both Mandy and Justin shot to their feet and spun around for the woman who spoke but no one was there. Justin's hand had shot to his back to grab hold of the gun but upon seeing nobody around with them he froze and blinked.

"I don't think you'll be needing a gun," that voice said.

"Who," Justin blinked and creased his brows together. "Who are you? Show yourself!"

"I can't say I'm able to 'show' myself but I must ask who you are," she retorted.

Mandy turned back to Justin as he withdrew his gun and growled. "I said come out before I start to shoot randomly."

"If you do that then I will have to lock the both of you in this room forever, seeing as you won't know how to repair me."

"Repair you?" Mandy muttered in confusion. Justin's eyes narrowed as he lowered the gun and relaxed.

"You're a voice activating machine," he muttered.

"That is correct."

"Damn," he shook his head slowly and put the gun back behind him.

"What's that mean?" Mandy turned to him.

"That's a very old and very confusing computer system," Justin expressed.

"Meaning?"

"It means you don't have to type in any commands—you just talk to it like it's another human being," Justin explained.

"Like wise—I used to be a living, breathing human."

"What?" Justin blinked.

"Blassimeer's younger sister was in a coma for eleven years and he finally found the heart to pull the plug on her but not before duplicating all of her brainwaves into a computer system—me."

"Nice," Mandy cringed. She turned to look at Justin as he stepped closer to the large screen in the back.

"Please tell me who you are so I do not have to generate the remaining stored electricity as a means to electrocute you."

"Yeah—yeah," Justin shot his arms up and looked back at Mandy before returned to the screen. "I'm Justin Stevens and this is Mandy Simmons. We're looking to find out what happened in Uno Maxwell's childhood to know why she's… she's a…" Justin fumed and dragged his gaze to the ground, wondering what to say that the computer would understand.

"A perfectly bred killing machine?" The computer finished for him. Justin blinked up at the screen in wonder.

"Yeah—how did you… how did you know?"

"Duo had decided that in case of the chances going that another war were to break out he wanted to prepare for it," it explained. "For that purpose, all five ex Gundam Pilots—Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei—have decided to train her into the perfect assassin, known as Shinimegami."

"The Goddess of Death?" Mandy blinked in question.

"Yes. Duo Maxwell was known as Shinigami in his life of wars and she wanted to carry on his trait and call herself Shinimegami."

Justin sighed. "So why is she all 'kick-ass Uno'? I know she still has a kind side to her—she's shown it as she was unconscious and in my care."

"I can't answer that. I am not her mind as I am Clara's."

"Right," Justin waved his hand in the air. "Who is Ricky Tanners?"

A clip came onto the screen of when he was jumped on by a mini-Uno and another girl. "This was his first time being at the mansion. It was Uno's sixth birthday party when Ricky first entered the premises and stayed the night. As you see here, Uno and Theresa were his only friends—as each of them were their own circle without another circle besides that."

Justin's eyes narrowed as he watched everyone but Ricky chase Duo upstairs; poor Ricky was left tied up in wrapping. He watched as Heero came up to him and withdrew a combat knife then saw how Ricky tensed up. Justin drew in a breath.

"He knew then as well."

"What?" Mandy stepped up besides him. "Knew what?"

Justin pointed at Ricky and Heero. "He froze when Heero removed the knife."

"So…maybe the knife scared him."

Justin shook his head. "Ricky was trained to be a killer… a weapon wouldn't scare him like that. He probably believed that Heero had found him out."

"Oh."

"Ricky Tanners had been assumed Uno's best friend throughout her entire existence of living in the Blassimeer Manor then eventually became her boyfriend. However, in due time Theresa had been murdered where-as Uno was meant to be in her place then later Ricky had killed himself as he couldn't kill Uno. Ricky Tanners had been depriving information for Synodd for several years and portrayed an innocent young boy without a single flaw in his existence; he had led on the entire Winner family and even Uno. It wasn't until the night he was attempted to assassinate Uno that his true side was found out in the living room by Duo and Heero."

"How do you know all of this?" Mandy asked.

"My sources record all movement of every room in the Blassimeer Manor and their conversation happened all at once."

"Oh…" Mandy trailed her eyes off to the side. She stopped and blinked at a video box that was secured behind thick glass and metal. "What's in there?"

Suddenly, the screen went dead of the birthday party and she saw a mechanical hand behind the glass replace an empty slot with a video cassette tape.

"This is one place where all the documents are stored." The computer replied. "Is there anything else?"

"Um… what happened that made her fight?" Mandy questioned.

"I believe I just answered that." The computer shot back.

Justin gave Mandy a dirty look. "Mind if I ask the questions?"

"No," Mandy shot her hands up into the air and shook her head. "By all means—go right on ahead."

Justin nodded. "Okay then." He returned to the screen and furrowed his brows in thought. "What happened in this mansion? I mean, why is it all boarded up and we have to go run around in dark hallways trying to figure out what's gotten' into this girl?"

"Understandable," the computer remarked. "Uno has never been one to fully complete one task without doing another along side of it." Suddenly, a video came on that showed four of them talking in the living room.

"During this time Uno is in her bedroom listening to music Ricky had wrote for her and Wufei has been killed." The computer narrated. Justin and Mandy witnessed as bullets flew into the house and soldiers from Synodd sprang through the door with their rifles at the ready. His eyes widened as he watched the four of them fight to survive and begin retreating outside—all the while Duo was trying to get upstairs. Suddenly, Uno was seen coming downstairs with her gun in one hand and a semi-automatic rifle in the other. His mouth gaped open as he watched the beginning of 'kick-ass Uno' and how she literally tore up the living room of her house. Then he watched as she accepted the blinking assignment on the laptop that Heero had kept open and then the screen went dead.

"Uno had the power shut down before she left so the generators would not over heat and cause an explosion," the computer explained.

Mandy gawked at Justin and noticed his mouth was gaping open and his eyes were huge. "Justin?" She whispered softly. "Are you okay?"

"They're alive?" Justin muttered in a shock.

"In hiding but yes Heero, Duo, Trowa, and Quatre are alive." The computer answered.

Justin turned to Mandy slowly and muttered out, "Uno thinks they're dead, Mandy." He nearly choked out a breath of relief as he turned back to the screen. "She thinks Duo's dead."

"Naturally she would as he went missing as soon as she came downstairs. Might I ask what happened in the four months that I have been in exile?"

"Um," Justin's brows crease and he shook his head shortly after and cleared his throat. "Quatre Winner went missing and the city went into chaos. It's now completely a dead city; that's why I had to power you up with the backup generator."

"Is that what you did at the school?" Mandy asked. Justin nodded her answer. "Damn… you know a lot."

"Not nearly as much as Vincent. I'm just a wiz at being a computer hacker," Justin corrected her.

"Is there anything else?"

"Yeah… how large is this place?" Justin had to ask. He saw an image displaying on the screen that showed each wing and each angle of the mansion. He whistled. "Huge."

"Why are the doors electronically bolted?" Mandy asked. Justin blinked back into reality from the mansion he was in and waited for the reply.

"As the system was shut down typically the doors that held the most valuable possessions or the most deadly were secured. In this case, any door that lead to anything except a hallway had been secured; that means any room that could possible contain expensive valuable items, deadly chemicals from the Technology Department, or the Security and Weapon Check Point rooms."

"Security and Weapon Check Points?" Mandy had asked.

"Yes. Blassimeer was a soldier in his time and he used this manor as a base. Incase of a break in the rooms would be used as a means to check in with the security room—which is this room—to get another weapon or to reload your current weapon. However, as I have been updated in the past, when Master Winner added on a living quarters he had shut down all means of the rest of the mansion and that required shutting down this security room; no Check Point rooms were built in the new quarter."

"I see," Mandy turned to Justin. She saw how he was quiet so she asked, "Does it pay to explore the new quarters?"

"No; this is all there is."

The screen portrayed each room—in which it paused when it reached Duo's but paused longer when it reached Uno's. Justin swallowed hard and Mandy felt shivers run up her spine; even in her youth Uno was disturbed. They both stared at the huge Medieval Weapon puzzle on her wall then both of them felt sick to their stomach as they saw the living room where all the fight took place. There were bullet holes in many areas and blood covering practically everything.

"I think that's enough," Justin breathed out. Mandy turned to him as the screen died.

"Justin?" She cooed. "What's wrong? What is it?"

"I have to get out of here," he spat and he turned to her. Mandy drew in a heavy breath of air as she saw the fear etched in his eyes. "Uno thinks they're all dead and I think that's why she's always trying to kill herself. I need to talk to her."

"Justin?" Mandy slowly shook her head, not following his statements.

"I have to try and contact Duo."